Garden Planting 2016

Growing up, we relied a lot on being able to produce food from our garden. Sometimes my dad would be working two or three small plots for corn, beans, squash, tomatoes, onions, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, and peppers. As the harvest would arrive, we would enjoy as much of it as we could, give away to neighbors and relatives, and can whatever remained. I can remember my sister and I going out to the garden after school in the spring and picking green onions and dipping them in salt as a snack. I don't think I fully appreciated back then just how unique our experience was, and how much my parents were covertly instilling in me an appreciation for the magic of where our food comes from.

Since 2007, I've had a small garden almost every year in Morgantown. Before that, as an adult away from home I would spend time planting on my tribes land with a few other folks, but there is something far more intimate about having your garden so close to home. My dad has had a garden for as long as I can remember, and even at 75, he and his brothers still plant crops together and share the produce. Our Shawnee ancestors considered the time just before planting the start of the new year and a time to embrace forgiveness and reconciliation. Maybe the work of preparing the soil for planting and looking onward to weeding and caring for crops was a reminder of just how much we need one another, and just how important our relationships are.

This year, I planted the Shawnee traditional three sisters (corn, beans, and squash) along with some tomatoes (cherry and better boys), collards, brussels sprouts, zucchini, bell peppers, and some sunflowers just for fun. I'm looking forward to sharing and feeding friends and family with some of the produce from this little truck patch. There's something especially delicious about picking a tomato, a pepper, or an ear of corn right off the plant and eating it right then and there, that people who only get their food from a grocery store really miss out on. 

Nowadays, it seems like it is a little more trendy to have a small garden, but I applaud anyone who, for whatever reason, is willing to get out and work with the soil. I believe the act of preparing and planting a garden does so much for the household or individual that attempts it. It is a profound reminder that, as much as technology is moving forward, the Creator of the universe has orchestrated it such that our food comes from the earth, and from our relationship with it. Farming or having a garden of whatever size reminds us of our role of stewardship and care, if not for the whole earth, at least for this small area near our homes. It also reminds us that we are dependent upon the rain, the sun, and good healthy soil to ensure that our plants grow, and that we have food to eat. Maintaining a garden also roots us to a deeper experience of place, and in a world that is always on the go, being rooted is a gift. 

As the summer moves forward, I look forward to watching the magic happen and the garden transform from soil, seeds, and small plants to a productive plot of magical gifts from the land. And as I think about the arrival of our child this fall with the harvest, I am hopeful to continue the tradition of teaching another generation of Shawnee about our relationship with the land and how God blesses us with food to eat. It warms my heart to think that every year, as our child celebrates another birthday, we will also be celebrating the late harvest here in these West Virginia hills. May we continue with each generation to to encourage good relationship with the land, the air, and the water. 

Garden Planting 2015

Sunday afternoon we were finally able to get the garden prepped and planted. We have had a lot of rain this spring, and days of sunshine have not worked out well in our schedule so far this year for getting our little truck patch set up and ready to go. Better late than never, and the way we see it, this just means that we will be able to share in a late harvest with family and friends! Plus, the rain has been great for other friends and farmers. Without regular rain, the crops just won't grow.

There is so much meaning in this little square patch of ground. Every year while I was growing up, Dad and Mom would work one or two plots of ground planting a wide variety of vegetables. Through the summer and fall, we would have plenty of food to eat, and my folks would send me around to neighbors with buckets of fresh vegetables to share. Mom would be hard at work in the kitchen canning beans, making sauerkraut, and pickles (among other yummy foods).

Back around the time Mom was in the last rounds of her fight with cancer (which she eventually lost and is now in the presence of her King), I plowed up a little spot in the yard here in Morgantown. I was coming to a realization around that time that my generation was quickly losing its relationship with the land, and we were not maintaining some of the traditional skills that we had witnessed our parents and grandparents participate in regularly. Things like growing food, repairing homes, sewing, cooking, and maintaining home and land seemed to me to be becoming less and less practiced.

So, since 2007 I have planted a garden each year with one exception. Jamie and I gave the land a sabbath after seven years as a reminder that God is our ultimate provider, and just like you and I need rest, the land needs rest as well. Each year, I plant some tomatoes and some peppers and potentially some other yummies, but I always make sure I plant the Three Sisters. Planting the Three Sisters helps me to keep connected to foods my family has always grown, but in a larger scope it is a reminder and a connection to our cultural heritage as Shawnee people.

My ancestors would take time as they planted (planting marked the new year), and they would seek to forgive others and make amends where needed. In fact, it was forbidden to carry a grudge or some form of unforgiveness into the new year. Each year, at the time of planting, everyone would start on a clean slate. I think our world would be a little brighter if more folks today practiced a similar tradition. As I worked the ground and dropped corn, beans, and squash into rows, I also took a little moment to give thanks for the provision of the Creator of the universe who sustains all things. I asked God to bless the crops in the hopes that they would provide me, Jamie, and many of our friends and family meals, sustenance, and that the harvest would be plentiful, and allow us to extend these gifts to others as well.

While our garden is not quite big enough to provide for all of our needs, I believe that it keeps us sharpening skills that farmers the world over employ to make sure their families are fed. It becomes for us not only provision, but also an opportunity to stand in solidarity with our neighbors around the planet who are farmers. And here in the US, it keeps us rooted and connected to the land. Honestly, as we spend time in our little garden, the act itself refreshes our spirits. Personally I feel more alive as I am working this little plot, and the food that comes from this garden tastes WAY BETTER than what folks buy in stores--it's always been that way too.  There's something about having a little dirt under our fingernails as we work the land that is healing and magical.

Not only that, but every day we spend working this little patch, it's a small but poignant reminder that food comes from the good earth and from the provision of the creation. Real food doesn't come from a lab. It doesn't come from a box. It doesn't come in plastic and cardboard packages. It comes from the earth. As we tend and care for the earth, it takes care of us as well. Sometimes I think we forget that truth, and we become users instead of caretakers. We become users of both earth and people, and that leaves our relationships with both fragmented and broken.

Even if you can't plant a little spot on your land, maybe look around for a community supported agriculture (CSA) initiative or a farmers market. Doing so might be a small step of solidarity with farmers, and a good reminder of where our food comes from. It also helps the local economy as well! Here in Morgantown we are part of Mountain Harvest Farms CSA, and we supplement our food needs from time to time with a quick stop to the Morgantown Farmers Market or by making meat and egg purchases from Working H Farms.

May we all be blessed in this Shawnee new year with a greater spirit of forgiveness as well as a stronger relationship with the land that provides so much to us.